Shalom Saints,
During the 1980’s, I was a semi-Christian. I went for communion weekly at an Episcopalian church and I observed Rosh HaShana in the 7th month. Why? For 11 years I worked at the New York City Board of Education and it was closed on that day. I had no idea of the origin of the tradition, I just knew that it was Jewish and I had the day off. That to me was a Holiday!
It never crossed my mind that there was anything wrong with Rosh HaShana in the fall of the year. It was just another New Year that a different culture celebrated. Didn’t the Chinese have their own calendar and celebrate the New Year at a different time?
I was living in a city that was filled with many types of people. I lived in a building that was multi-cultural and the Board of Education had employees from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds. As I look back, I had developed an attitude that accepted most cultural differences and the rest I tolerated. I did not have a firm foundation in the Bible, so that anything that didn’t go against the grain of my moral standards (which were quite flexible depending on the circumstances) was deemed, “Well, if that’s what they want to do, let them. It ain’t hurting me.”
Ignorance was hurting me! I had accepted man’s mixture of a little bit of truth with a lot of tradition. I drank the Kool-Aid! The terrible thing about ignorance is that often we don’t know, that we don’t know. That is why it is so important to seek the Father’s truth with all diligence and to share with others what we have received through His revelations to us.
Summary of the Teaching
Happy Biblical New Year!! This is the Creator’s designated New Year!! Arthur presents the evidence straight from witnesses in Scripture. After this teaching, there is no substantial reason for anyone to continue the millennium’s old tradition of celebrating on January 1st or any other date determined by man.
Arthur’s opening for the evening was about diligently seeking the Father. Those of us who commune with the Almighty have access to His unlimited wisdom. Our Father will help us walk through the jungle of life, and even extricate us from the messes we make.
The New Year was instituted by Yehovah. We are commanded to observe the first month of the year and given instructions on how to determine the first month. The first month is determined when the barley is abib/aviv. Abib means fresh, young barley ears. Abib is always associated with barley, not wheat. It is critically important to accurately determine the beginning of the 1st month of the year with the barley being abib and the sighting of the renewed moon. That date, determines the dates of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Pentecost.
Arthur explained that Exodus 12:2 contained the words “the beginning” and “year” translated “Rosh HaShana”.
Exodus 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning (meaning Rosh or head) of months: it shall be the first month of the year (meaning Shana) to you. (King James Version)
This verse means that the month Abib is the first month or head of the year or Rosh HaShana.
No one knows when Judaism started celebrating Rosh HaShana (meaning the head/first of the year) in the seventh month of the year. When the Israelites exited Babylon, this practice was mentioned in the Mishna (the Oral Torah of Judaism). The mixture of the traditions of men with the Scriptures spawned confusion. Confusion will always compete with Yehovah because confusion is not of the Father.
Confusion will cause people to not know what to think or believe, so they depend on other men to tell them what to think.
The confusion reached its apex when the Mishnah listed 4 New Years. Listen as Arthur discusses this collision of man-made tradition with scripture.
Arthur has warned us many times not to use Western dictionaries to look up words in the Bible, but to use the Concordance or Bible dictionaries. Look at what Arthur found.
When Yehovah gave His word to us, He gave it perfectly. When man adds to it or takes away from it, we are essentially saying that Yehovah’s word was not perfect. That, my Sisters and Brothers, is standing on thin ice or on a slippery slope. The solid ground is to stick with the word and nothing but the word!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Buzz on the Teaching
When Arthur mentioned that some of the songs sung in churches perpetuated false teachings, I had flashbacks to my Baptist upbringing and singing in the choir.
First the truth: I could not carry a tune, but I begged so much that the choir director put me in the choir for a season and let me sing lead on one song. If we were in Texas, when I sung solo, the folks would have said, “Bless her heart, she tried.”
But we were in Indianapolis. My Dad would conveniently go to the Deacons room when the first chords of “my song” would start. The last time I sung “I Said Wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody What the Good Lord Done for Me”, was at a church that our congregation went to visit. My song wasn’t on the Playlist, but our Pastor Williams (Bless his heart!) made a special request for my song. I was so proud to be asked that I belted out that song with full force, all off-key. My sister said that I really didn’t need that microphone.
After the service, my mother accosted Pastor Williams and accused him of embarrassing our family in public by requesting me to sing! LOL!
Most of the lyrics to Christian songs kept us in a sinner’s state of mind. The lyrics spoke of a reliance on Jesus to do everything for us as we wait on the Rapture AND without our having to keep the commandments in Torah. The songs speak of God and Jesus’ responsibilities, but there is no mention of our required obedience. For example,
Lyrics from Amazing Grace
The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Read Deuteronomy 28. Those promises are conditional! We have a definite role to play in whether or not we will receive the “promised good.”
Until next time… Blessings to You and Yours,
Sharon
Thank you Sharon for making this great point so easy to grasp , and thank you for all you do in YHVH “s family. Many blessings to you
Sincerely , Annette Griffey
P.S . I can hardly wait to meet everyone in our family!
Shalom Annette,
Thank you for reading the Blog! I look forward to meeting you too!
Blessings,
Sharon